I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion.
---------Henry David Thoreau

Monday, December 22, 2014

First American COAVC Book of the Year Laureate

Well, I'll be gosh-darned! An American author has finally accepted the COAVC Best Book of the Year Award. Philip Daley, author of Welcome To The Divide has graciously accepted the award; and his check is in the mail.

The award is only $100; but it's the thought that counts. A distinguished reader (me) truly appreciated the work this young man put into writing his book. I highly recommend the book to you all. It will blow your mind.

Notable authors on the Continent have accepted the COAVC award in the past, but until now no American author has been inclined to accept it.

I was coming to the conclusion that Americans have too much money to be bothered with a measly hundred bucks. The other day I took a moment to analyze why these folks had declined the award and I discovered that most of my fellow Americans to whom I had offered the award, were college professors. Believe me, awarding the prize to college profs was not my intention.

These folks are already vastly overpaid and I suppose their egos are probably a bit inflated. And just like it wouldn't be efficacious for Bill Gates to bend over and pick up a $100 bill lying on the sidewalk, (someone actually did a study to determine this...) these folks probably figure that if Bill Gates wouldn't break his routine for $100, they shouldn't break their routines either.

Hey, no big deal. I simply took their $100 and bet it on horses in the Kentucky Derby each year.

Well, it turns out that Philip Daley is not a college professor. He is a security guard. He is also a great writer. Perhaps one day he will be offered a position teaching creative writing at a prestigious university. I hope he turns it down.

Congratulations Mr. Daley. I wish you further success. Write another damn book, please. I've already read Welcome To The Divide twice. (Enjoyed it more the second time...in the paperback version). And every time the word "divide" pops up in the news I remember your book and I smile.